Subject: 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies (SCOVA) under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble MOS (PP) to be held on 5th February, 2014 at 4.00 PM in Vigyan Bhawan Annexe, New Delhi – Reg

– Venue & Time of 24th SCOVA meeting.

– Comments on Fresh Agenda Items

– Confirmation of the participation

The undersigned is directed to say that the 24th meeting of the Standing Committee of Voluntary Agencies(SCOVA) under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble MOS (PP) will be held on Wednesday, the 5th FebruarY,2014 at 4.00 PM in:-

Committee Room-A,

Ground Floor, Vigyan Bhawan Annexe,

Maulana Azad Road,

New Delhi 110011

2. It is to say that the Five agenda items for discussion in the 24th Meeting of SCOVA is enclosed herewith. The concerned Ministries/Departments are. therefore. requested to kindly furnish comments on the enclosed agenda items for 24th meeting of SCOVA latest by 28th January, 2014 to the undersigned through Fax IEmail (Fax No. / E-mail Address given below) and also in hard copy.

3. It is also requested that the name and telephone number of the official, not below the rank of Joint secretary/Director, nominated to attend the above meeting may kindly be sent to this Department early for further interaction relating to 24th SCOVA meeting.

AGENDA ITEMS FOR 24TH MEETING OF STANDING COMMITTEE OF VOLUNTARYAGENCIES(SCOVA) TO BE HELD ON 5THFEBRUARY,2014 AT VIGYAN BHAWAN ANNEXE, NEW DELHI

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AGENDA ITEMS

1.

Health Insurance Scheme for pensioners including those residing at non-CGHS areas.

The present position regarding the introduction of Health Insurance Scheme for pensioners may be indicated.

2.

Dedicated day for pensioners:

In line with DOP&PW (Reference No. 5/40/2012-P&PW(C) dtd 31.12.2012): Ministry of Railways which has more than 12,18,000 Pensioners/Family pensioners should create similar facility forPensioners/family pensioners at Rly. Board, Zonal Hqs & Divisional level. Similar facility may be provided in Ministry of Defence, Posts, Telecom etc.

3.

Special Family Pension for the Widows of Disabled War Veterans

A war disabled soldier, on being invalided out of service, receives war injury pension comprising war injury /disability element and service element. On his demise, war injury /disability element of thepension gets extinguished and his widow’s family pension is fixed on the basis of serviceelement only, resulting in a sharp reduction in the pension amount. The case for basing the family pensionentitlement of the widow a disabled war veteran on his last drawn pension inclusive of war injury /disability element is well merited as follows –

(A) Most war disabled ex-servicemen invalided out of service, are forced to leave service at a very young age, often with less than 5 years of service, and in very junior ranks without achieving their full potential. Service Element of their War Injury Pension is accordingly fixed very low. Combining war injury element with service element enhances the total pension to a reasonable amount.

(B) As the career of a disabled ex-serviceman is curtailed while fighting for the nation in adverse circumstances, it is imperative that after his demise, the family does not suffer financially. This can be assured to some extent by not excluding the war injury element for the purpose of computing familypension entitlement of the widow.

(C) The proposal was initiated well over 2 years ago and is currently under examination by Deptt of Ex-servicemen Welfare. However, the movement is very slow. As the issue equally concerns para-military forces under MHA, it may be piloted by DoPPW.

(D) The number of invalided out disabled war veterans is small and the benefit would accrue to the widow only after a veteran’s demise~ the financial implications therefore would be limited. The morale-boosting impact on the armed forces and para-military forces, however, would be huge.

4.

Reimbursement of medical expenses to CGHS beneficiaries:-

As per instructions contained in O.M.No.S-ll030/6/2001-CGHS(P) dated 5.11.2001 issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi the reimbursement of expenditure incurred on treatment availed from AIIMS will be made as per rates of AIIMS and as per entitlement of the beneficiary. However, in Chandigarh whenever a CGHS member gets treatment from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences and Research the reimbursement of medical expenses incurred on such treatment is restricted to limits prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare from time to time and the patient is left to bear the difference from his pocket, which in some cases is much more than the amount actually reimbursed to the beneficiary. Both the above Institutions are run entirely on the same pattern and with the full budgetary support provided by the Govt. of India. Rates to be charged from the patients from time to time are also approved by the Govt. of India. Once a patient is referred for specialized treatment to the PGIMER by the CMO I/C Wellness Center the patient should be normally reimbursed full charges as paid to the PGIMER as per entitlement of the beneficiary. As the CGHS beneficiaries are left to bear the huge amount from their own pocket there is great resentment amongst the retirees. It is also not understood as to why CGHS beneficiaries of Delhi and Chandigarh are treated differently by the Govt. of India.

It is requested that in view of the position explained above the Govt. of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi may kindly reconsider the above anomaly and issue necessary instructions so that the beneficiaries at Chandigarh are not left to suffer any more on this account.

5.

Grant of T.A. to Non-official Members attending the SCOVA meetings- Permission to perform journey by AIR and grant of actual expenses, when the journey performed is above 1,000 km.

Generally, all the Non-official Members representing Pensioners’ Associations who attend the SCOVA meetings are in their advanced age and are not in robust health to withstand the strains associated with journeys performed by Road and Rail especially, when such journeys extend beyond 24 hours and the distance travelled is above 1,000 km. The plight of those members who are suffering from old age ailments needs no explanation. Journey performed by Air, even from a place in the southern most part of the country may not take more than 3 hours to reach the Capital city of New Delhi where SCOVA meetings are held. Further, journey by Air is not as tedious as the journey by Rail and therefore it is preferable.

Supplementary Rule 190(b) states that ”A Competent Authority may, in its discretion; grant to the person concerned his actual travelling, hotel and carriage expenses instead of travelling allowance under that clause, if it considers that such allowance would be inadequate.” Further, as per the provisions contained in G.L, M.F., a.M. No.F.19024/7/82-E dated the 8th October, 1982 incorporated in Appendix 2 of F.R.& S.R. Part II (T.A.Rules) performing journey by train by the non-officials is compulsory only when the distance travelled is up to 500 km and the journey could be performed by overnight. “

Non-official Members who attend SCaVA Meetings as representatives of Pensioners’

Associations functioning in the Southern part of the Country have to travel above 2,000 km to reach New Delhi and the hours of journey, if performed by train, is also more than 40 hours. Similarly, the Members from places in Western and some places in the Eastern part of the Country have to travel for a distance of above 1000 km and the period of journey, if performed by train, will be more than 24 hours. In view of the provisions under T.A. Rules stated in the preceding paragraph, it is requested that the case of non-official members travelling above1,000 km to attend SCOVA meetings may be considered sympathetically and as a special case, grant them actual travelling expenses incurred by them when they perform the journey by Air, without limiting their claim to the train fare by entitled class, which would go a long way in helping the Pensioners’ Associations, since the Associations have to meet extra expenditure, if the T.A. claim of their representatives is restricted to the Train fare.